The present invention relates generally to sporting goods and is more particularly concerned with a practice device for use in those sports in which a sport projectile is hurled or struck toward a specified target zone.
In many sports, such as in softball; baseball; ice, field or street hockey; golf; squash; tennis; paddleball; handball and the like it is an object of the game, during the course of play, to hurl or strike a sport projectile of substantial mass toward a specified target zone. Competency is normally improved by way of individual practice wherein the player repetitively hurls or strikes the sport projectile toward the specific target zone. Thus it is that a baseball pitcher will attempt to perfect his or her art by repetitively pitching to a specific target or "spot" within the strike zone. In ice hockey a player will often spend many hours improving the accuracy of his repertoire of shots from a multitude of the possible shot angles involved in the sport. Likewise, a tennis or golf buff will often spend considerable hours of practice not only in an attempt to perfect the various strokes of the game, per se, but also to deliver his or her shots with increasing accuracy to specified target zones.
Unfortunately, practice of many of these sports has heretofore required substantial space and has thus often forced the player to travel substantial distances to a suitable practice fairway, tennis court, athletic field, ice rink or the like in order to provide a relatively safe facility in which to engage in a practice session. In view of decreasing world fuel supplies and the presently repaidly increasing costs thereof, travel for purposes of engaging in the practice of a sport has become ever more difficult to justify in terms of the energy consumption, cost and time involved. This is particularly so in respect of amateur sportsmen whose livelihoods do not seriously depend upon the competency with which they prosecute their chosen avocational sports. In accordance with the present invention, however, there is provided an effective practice device for sports of the foregoing types, which device requires only a fraction of the space normally required for safe operations and which device can generally be utilized at home or indoors, such as at a gym, rather than at a formal practice site for the particular sport under consideration.